


Silence is Telling

by sksdwrld



Series: Rock the Cradle [10]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, F/M, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 16:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2738444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sksdwrld/pseuds/sksdwrld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Days of our fucked up lives: How a MTV reality show debutante and her Rockstar boyfriend cope with tabloid bullshit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silence is Telling

It had been a long fucking day and all Matt really wanted to do was go home, walk his dog, and have a drink or seven. But something was nagging at him and as he pulled into his parking spot, he realized what it was. He hadn't gotten a single text or call from Eddie all damn day, which meant she was probably mad at him, and for God only knew what this fucking time. He told himself that he was getting damn sick of her immature, bullshit games but as he let himself into his apartment, he knew already that he was going to go over there. Something still didn't feel right, and it was a non-filming day, so there had been nobody to check in on her and little Marshall.

Matt clipped the leash on Jasper and pulled his phone out as the pitty trotted out of the apartment and pissed on the first bush they came across. Eddie's phone went to voicemail and he tugged lightly at the leash, frowning as he redirected Jasper toward his car. "Going to see our lady," he grumbled, opening the door for the dog and nudging him over as he climbed back into the car. He called three more times on the drive over, hanging up each time the call went unanswered.

By the time he pulled into Eddie's driveway, Matt was feeling pretty keyed up. When he got out of the car, he could hear a faint cry, but it meant that if he could hear Marshall outside, the boy was really wailing. Jasper whined and strained to the end of the leash. Matt let go and Jasper ran up onto the porch ahead of him. He nearly dropped the key ring as he fumbled for the one that would let him in, but finally stuffed it into the lock, taking a deep breath as he pushed the door open. "Hey, Bess?"

There was no answer and no one in the kitchen, but he saw her as soon as he went through the short hallway to the living room. Eddie was hunched over herself in one corner of the couch, wearing nothing but a pair of green underwear and a tightly knotted head scarf. The table lamp illuminated a bottle of cheap vodka, missing the cap, a crappy rag-magazine, and a spotty towel. Her hands were jerking and it took Matt a moment to realize that she was picking at her leg with a pair of bloodstained tweezers, then wiping them on the towel.

"Fucking hell, Bess! What are you doing?" Matt went to her side and tried to pry the tweezers from her hand, but she only made a sound of protest and curled more tightly, digging the tips of the tweezers back into her leg. Marshall let out another particularly shrill shriek and Matt looked toward the bedroom. He gave up on Eddie for the time being and ducked into the nursery, where Marshall was laying, sweaty, tear-stained, and red in his crib.

Matt picked him up and cradled him to his chest, shushing and snuggling the hysterical baby who burrowed into his neck and clung to his shirt. "How long's your mum been out of it?" Matt wondered aloud, bouncing Marshall gently to calm him. As he patted the boy's bottom, he realized it was covered with a sagging, loaded nappy and he realized it must have been hours.

After changing Marshall and smearing him with nappy rash cream, he took the still sniffling baby into the kitchen with him and set about making a bottle. Marshall was guzzling from it as he went back into the living room, and he propped the boy up in the corner of the couch before he sat next to Eddie. "Bess..."

When she didn't acknowledge him, Matt carefully lowered his hand to her left leg which was mottled with little red dots where she'd plucked out hairs and bleeding sores. She flicked her hand impatiently at him but Matt took it and drew it toward him. "Eddie...what are you doing, darling? What's the matter? Will you look at me? Love?"

She plucked four more hairs from just below her knee before side eyeing him. Her hand moved just slightly in Matt's direction and he waited to see if he was going to be stabbed for the second time in as many months. When she didn't move farther, Matt turned his palm toward her. "Can I have those, please, sweetheart?"

Slowly, Eddie reached out and unfurled her fingers from the tweezers, holding them up to Matt without looking at him. As he took them, her head dipped and she turned away from him, muttering angry, painful sounds.

"Bess..." Matt sighed, pocketing the tweezers. He checked on Marshall, who was avidly watching them as he gulped, chubby little fingers clinging to the sides of the bottle the same way they'd clung to Matt's shirt. He patted Marshall's leg and then held his hand out to he, encouraging her to move closer to him. "Bess, what's eating you, darling?"

Scowling, Eddie got up off the couch. She slapped her hand down on the magazine beside her and practically flung it at Matt. In the corner, Jasper lifted his head off his paws and regarded her. "Oh, fuck off you dumb mutt, I ain't gonna hurt him." she snapped, spinning back to grab the vodka. Her lashes fluttered and she tipped her head back to keep her tears at bay as she took another few swigs. As she padded toward the kitchen, she absently scratched Jasper's head, then paused in the doorway. Matt looked at the line of her body there, the tenseness of her shoulders and the jut of her hip telling him al he needed to know. Glancing down at the rag that had been thrust into his hands, Matt got as far as the title, then swore. _Cradle of Lies: Eddie Dalton's Parents Tell All_ He didn't need to read it in order to understand the shitstorm that was swirling in her head.

Matt stood up and lifted Marshall, then moved behind her, resting a hand on her hip. "Fuck them, Bess."

"I did, in case you forgot. I did fuck that greasy-ass slimeball...And now that fucker is telling the goddamn world that I was a fucking...lying little runaway slut trying to break up my family out of spite and jealousy. That my fucking bipolar disorder is an act!" Eddie struck the door frame with her hand. Marshall jerked against Matt and started to whimper again.

"Ah, fuck, that was a poor choice of words on my part, darlin', you know that. C'mere now," Matt's fingers slipped to her waist and tugged, then moved to her rib cage, her shoulders, each time giving a coercive squeeze until she turned toward him. Eddie's eyes were red rimmed and wet, her teeth digging into her lower lip. Matt gently freed it with his thumb and then caressed her cheek before kissing it. "Come on, Love. They're not your family anymore. We are. They don't fucking matter. We do. Or at least little Meatball here does. He needs his mum-"

"No he doesn't," Eddie interrupted miserably. "He needs someone who isn't going to let him sit alone in the other room all day because she can't deal with fucking life. He needs someone who's gonna give two fucking shits when he starts to cry instead of freaking the fuck out. He needs-"

Marshall was already reaching for Eddie, still whining as he fed off her energy, and Matt moved him closer; close enough that the baby could hook his little paws around Eddie's neck and pull himself in for comfort. "He needs _you_ , Bess."

Eddie started to sniffle as she clutched her son to her chest. "Oh, Marshy-baby, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Matt put his arms around them both, leaning in to kiss Eddie's temple. Her hand came up and smoothed the rag on her head self consciously. A lump formed in Matt's throat and a ball in his stomach. "You didn't, did you?" Of course she bloody well did. The way she stepped away from him and wouldn't meet his eyes confirmed it. "Oh, darlin', let me see. You're not bleeding there too, are you?" He reached for her.

Eddie ran her hand over the headscarf again. "I didn't...I wanted to but I didn't." Matt had barely breathed a sigh of relief when she admitted, "I cut it so I couldn't."

He didn't mean to look so alarmed- he wasn't with the girl _just_ because she knew how to put herself together and he told himself that it was just hair and it would grow back. But Matt found her pathology a little distressing and was sympathetic on her behalf. Eddie glanced at him, misinterpreted everything, and retreated to the couch, scowling. "Don't worry, I have a fucking hair piece. You won't have to stare at my ugly head when you fuck me."

"The fuck, Bess?" Matt gestured at her and then himself. "Is that what you think of me -that I'm only with you because we're fucking? I'm worried about you, but forgive me, I'm a little out of my depth here. I don't bloody care about your hair if you don't." He watched as she swigged from the bottle of vodka, and shook his head as Marshall reached for it and she absently moved it closer to the baby. Matt stole closer and took it away from them both. Eddie swore and Matt considered the bottle himself, but shoved it aside. "I don't know how to bloody fix this, Bess. Maybe you could tell me what you want me to do here. What you need me to do."

"Nothing!" She snapped. "You can't fucking fix me! I'm broken. I'm crazy! I'm a lying whore with PTS-fucking-D. Take your pick, and then get out." Marshall started to cry in earnest again.

Grimacing where he stood, Matt considered things, then shook his head. "Give me the baby..." He bent to take Marshall from her and she pulled back.

"You think you're going to take my fucking son away from me?"

"Eddie..." Matt said, his patience starting to slip. "I'm going to call the sitter so you can have a bit of a break without having to worry about taking care of a baby. And Marshall needs someone who can hold him and play with him for a bit today. I don't think either of us fit the bill at the moment, okay? So give Meatball to me and I'll get everything straightened out and then you can decide if you still want to toss me out on my arse, alright?"

She stared at him for a long moment and then slowly, reluctantly offered Marshall up to him. Matt took the boy into the kitchen with him and Eddie curled back into the corner of the couch. When Matt returned, Eddie had shifted in the other direction and was laying with her head on Jasper's flank, eyes glazed and distant as she stroked him. Matt sighed and petted the dog's head as he passed through, on his way to pack Marshall's bag. In less than half an hour, the woman had come and bundled the baby up into her Audi, cooing over him as she carted him away.

As he trudged back into the apartment, Matt thought about all the ways that life wasn't fair, not for any of them, and wondered if he weren't making things worse in some way. But then he reminded himself that if nothing else, he'd done little Marshall a service tonight, and that had to count for something.

The vodka was on the side table where he'd left it. It was warm, obviously cheap, and didn't tickle him in all the ways that Jameson did, but it would do the trick. He tipped his head back and took several long swallows, leaving only a bit in the bottom of the bottle. Then Matt sat down beside Eddie, pulled her off the dog and into his arms. She laid there limply for some time but eventually, she shifted, tucking her arms around him and pushing her face into his shoulder.

"I don't deserve you," Eddie whispered painfully.

Matt only shook his head and held her tighter. "You deserve better, Bess. You deserve better."


End file.
